National Affairs: Army Luxury

As every front-line soldier knows, there is a vast difference between
the number of men in uniform and the number who actually see combat.
Last week Defense Secretary Marshall told just how big the difference
is. For every 100,000 men under arms, he said, the U.S. can muster only
23,000 on the firing line. Russia, on the other hand, gets 80,000
combat soldiers out of every 100,000 men.

Old Soldier Marshall had started an investigation of the problem 24
hours after he became Secretary of Defense, but he could not see any
solution if U.S. troops were to continue to be the...